USA 2 Peru 1- Friendly Match

[warrior16]

Wasn't pretty, but a nice comeback by the guys tonight to win 2-1 after being down at halftime.

Altidore with both ugly goals. First he had a penalty saved (he needs to stop taking these), but was right there to put in the rebound. Second goal came from excellent pressure on the wings by Yedlin and Zardes. Zardes' deflected cross came right to Jozy, who blasted it past the Peruvian keeper from point-blank range.

The first half was just like how the US played in the Gold Cup: sloppy, disorganized, and unmotivated. Peru scored their goal in the 20th minute when Omar Gonzalez didn't step quickly enough, and the shot deflected off of him past a helpless Brad Guzan, who was maybe a tad too far up, but still wouldn't have had much of a chance to save that. John Brooks had a great chance set up by Altidore, but his volley went WAY over its intended target and is probably just now starting to descend back into the atmosphere. That's why he's a defender.

Jermaine Jones also had a great solo run thwarted by a great save from the Peruvian keeper.

The second half was much better from the US, and considering we didn't have several of our best players (Bradley, Dempsey, Johnson) it was very encouraging. Peru is a solid team that finished third in the Copa America just a few weeks ago, so a win against them, however ugly, is no small feat.

On Tuesday we get to see how the US stacks up against Peru's Brazilian neighbors with a more complete squad. The match will be on ESPN.

I thought Yedlin and Zardes were our two best players today. Tim Ream was excellent at left back. Besler did well when he was in, as did Cameron. I look forward to seeing how Jurgen will line up his troops come Tuesday.

[kevin]

The first half was pretty ugly, but despite that we had quite a few chances. I agree that Yedlin and Zardes played very well. Pretty much anything we created early on came from getting the ball to them out wide.

What we were completely unable to do was break down a defense anytime Peru sat back. Jones and Bedoya had a handful of terrible passes. Playing with two up top and two wingers left us pretty weak in the center of midfield, compared to when we play a diamond midfield. We are going to have to be better in possession when we're on the road in Central America playing some team that's just bunkering down and hoping for a lucky counterattack.

Any thoughts in Guzan v. Howard? I still think Timmy deserves to play the big matches for us, but apparently JK doesn't feel the same way.

[warrior16]

I'm comfortable with either keeper, or even Nick Rimando in goal, in any game. Keeper is the one position we produce better than just about anyone else. Guzan could have done better on that first goal, but he made some great saves as well. Howard is fine, too. I'm OK with Jurgen making Howard earn his starting role back.

And yeah I agree our midfield needs to figure it out soon. I think it's the fact the Jurgen is CONSTANTLY changing our personnel and formation that prevents us from getting any chemistry. Also, the fact that we have almost no natural wingers on this team that forces guys to play out of position. Bedoya, Yedlin, and Zardes are not natural wingers, but we have to use them like that a lot because we don't have any natural wingers on the team. All the more reason to call up Lletget and Finlay soon.

[happyjack]

We need someone who can make runs at the speed of Zardes, he had 3 great runs and crosses to.....nobody. Closest US player a good 10 yards behind. And our midfield without Bradley looks like a sieve...